Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The naturalisation application from the person referred to by the Deputy has been approved.

An approval letter has issued to the parent of the applicant. Once the required documents are received, their certificate of naturalisation will issue in the weeks following.

My Department is taking a number of steps to speed up the processing of applications and a number of digitisation measures have been introduced to increase efficiency in the process, including eVetting and online payments.

In October 2023, my Department moved from paper based applications to online forms for all new adult applications going forward. Online applications will make the process easier for customers, allowing them to easily fill in the relevant forms, upload the required documents, make payments and submit. The forms will provide a seamless application process and will help guide applicants through what is required for an application.

The end result of the digitisation process will be the freeing up of more staff to focus on processing applications in a timely and efficient manner, improving service to our customers and reduction of waiting times.

Finally, I can advise the Deputy that the Citizenship Division of my Department intends to regularly communicate with all applicants on a quarterly basis into the future, to keep them updated on the status of their application.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility at: INISOireachtasMail@justice.ie, which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Question process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in the cases where the response is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.